Gov. Bill Haslam on Monday encouraged members of the state's Historical Commission to take up a petition that would allow the city of Memphis to move a statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest located at Health Sciences Park.

The Memphis City Council voted in 2015 to remove the statue and sought a waiver in early 2016 from the Tennessee Historical Commission to do so.

The commission did not approve the waiver and the city objected on procedural grounds. The city's petition still awaits action. Haslam said a similar petition from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro to rename its Forrest Hall ROTC building also awaits action.

The city's initial request came before the enactment of the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act of 2016, which by requiring a two-thirds vote of the commission now makes it more difficult to remove statues and other monuments from public property.

"While I support the principle of local governments deciding what to place on their own properties, state law reserves this decision for the Historical Commission," Haslam said in a letter to Patrick McIntyre, executive director of the commission.

Haslam has recently voiced his support for allowing Memphis to remove its statues.

The commission is set to make a final decision on the petition at its upcoming Oct. 13 meeting.

"A refusal to act on the petition in October will only prolong the issue and result in criticism of both the established process and the Commission itself, as this process can work effectively only if the responsible entities act in a timely manner," Haslam said.

"I appreciate the sensitivity around these matters and respect the significant responsibility placed upon you as Commission members," the governor concluded.

Haslam's letter to the commission comes after he has publicly called for the removal of the bust of Forrest, a Confederate general and early leader of the Ku Klux Klan, located inside the state Capitol.

The governor, as well as U.S. Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander, have similarly called for the bust's removal. The calls from the three Republicans came after violence erupted in Charlottesville, Va., as protesters and counter-protesters clashed over the planned removal of a Robert E. Lee statue.

The first step toward removing the bust could take place as early as Friday when the state Capitol Commission is scheduled to meet. The first item on the commission's agenda is Haslam's request to relocate the bust.